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G2 and T1's best bits from the MSI 2022 tournament
MSI 2022 was a rollercoaster from start to finish, with incredible highs and some intense lows. Here are our favourite moments from the international tournament.
The League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational has ended and after a hard-fought battle, China's Royal Never Give Up have emerged as the winners. South Korean juggernauts T1 gave them a run for their money in the Grand Final, but after an intense back-and-forth that came down to the very last match in the best-of-five, RNG snatched the victory.
MSI 2022 also saw the meteoric return of G2 Esports, who entered the tournament off the back of a near-flawless run in the League of Legends European Championship 2022 Spring Playoffs and continued to go unbeaten deep into the Rumble Stage of MSI. A few missteps here and there cost them that run, but they can hold their heads high after reaching the semis.
Both T1 and G2 had some incredible moments at MSI and this tournament showed just how capable both teams are when they're playing at their peak. Here are just a few of their best bits from MSI 2022.
T1 go undefeated for 26 matches
T1's incredible, unbeaten League of Legends Champions Korea 2022 Spring run is already well-documented, but they refused to stop there. After 18 straight wins in the Regular Season and two wins to secure the Playoffs, T1 stormed into their Group Stage and won a further six games without breaking a sweat.
It was an amazing feat that few other teams could hope to replicate, but all good things must come to an end and T1 ultimately lost to G2 in the very first match of the MSI 2022 Rumble Stage. It ending their streak, but it was one of only three losses across the entire Rumble and G2 were on a hot streak of their own.
G2 go undefeated for 24 matches
G2 had a heck of a comeback in the LEC 2022 Spring Playoffs, and ended up the champions on the back of a 12-0 win streak. That momentum surely gave them a boost headed into MSI, but few could have predicted just how far they'd take that streak.
After absolutely dominating both NA's Evil Geniuses and Oceania's ORDER in the Group Stage, G2 had gone 8-0 at MSI and hadn't lost in 20 straight matches. The competition would only get tougher, but G2 took down T1, RNG, EG and Vietnam's Saigon Buffalo in the Rumble Stage before anyone could take a game off them.
Their match against Saigon Buffalo was a particular show of dominance, as G2 managed to wrap the whole thing up in around 23 minutes, having lost just two turrets across the entire game.
Flakked's Quadra Kill
LoL is a team game, but it's always exciting to see one player take a huge number of kills in one go and it was a particular delight to watch rookie botlaner Victor 'Flakked' Tortosa score the only quadra of the entire tournament not secured by RNG, as G2 took down EG in their final game of the Rumble Stage.
Taking place around 34 minutes into the game near the Baron, G2 encircled EG and wreaked havoc, leaving no room for any of their opponents to escape. And while most of the team are engaging in the heavy combat, an extremely mobile Flakked on Kai'Sa picks off the stragglers and nabs himself a quadra kill in the process.
T1 beats Team Aze in 20m 44s
T1 are known for being a dominant force in LoL and nothing showed that more clearly than their crushing victory over Team Aze in their first game on Day 2 of Group Stage. It was a real blink-and-you'll-miss-it match, as T1 took to the Summoner/s Rift and destroyed their opponents in just 20m 44s. That's the third-fastest game of the entire tournament, which is no mean feat.
The writing seemed to be on the wall even six minutes into the game after a failed gank on Choi 'Zeus' Woo-je led to Lee 'Faker' Sang-hyeok swooping in seemingly out of nowhere to save his team-mate and pick up a double kill in the process. Aze wouldn't even pick up a single tower in the game – that's just how good T1 were.
G2 take down RNG
G2 are a phenomenal team in their own right, but it would be unwise and unfair to dismiss the rest of the competition, especially a giant like RNG. So, when G2 took down China's best team in their very first game together – ending their undefeated MSI run in the process – it was a moment worth celebrating.
It was a hard-fought battle, taking over 36 minutes to secure the win, but G2 looked pretty much on top of things throughout the match. An utterly beautiful team fight at 35 minutes saw the teams trading kills back and forth, until G2 managed to gain the upper hand and ace RNG, allowing G2 to simply walk into the enemy base and pick-up a well-deserved win.
Faker finds them all
T1 may have ultimately lost to RNG in the Grand Final, but they didn't go out without a fight. And what a fight it was, with the teams trading wins back-and-forth right until the very end. Every member of T1 was invaluable in keeping the dream alive for so long, but once again, it's Faker who provided one of the most incredible plays of the battle.
In Game 2 of the Grand Final, at the 23 minute mark, RNG collapsed onto the Baron expecting an easy pick. But Faker, standing just outside the pit, stopped them in their tracks with an incredible play on Lissandra that led to an immediate double kill and the rest of RNG scattering into the waiting arms of of T1. It's an amazing moment that you'll want to watch at least three times just to soak it all in.
